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Adventures in Space: New Short Stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers
If you love the mission of science fiction, the interchange between cultures, the hopeful and inexorable trajectory of technology and ideas, you'll love this anthology of new stories from Chinese and English language writers.
An impressive joint project, this outstanding new anthology brings the best of Chinese and English science fiction in a mediation on the theme of Exploration in Space. New, emerging, established and much-lauded writers from both cultures are brought together to demonstrate that technology and humanity when they work together bring challenges, joy and benefits to all of humankind. From Baoshu comes 'A Trip to the End', from Allen Stroud 'The First', from He Xi 'Never Meet Again in Life', from Amdi Silvestri 'A Minuet of Corpses' and under the guiding eye of Patrick Parrinder (President of the H.G. Wells society) and Yao Haijun (celebrated editor of Science Fiction World in China) fifteen authors create a series of worlds which will enthral and entertain.
An impressive joint project, this outstanding new anthology brings the best of Chinese and English science fiction in a mediation on the theme of Exploration in Space. New, emerging, established and much-lauded writers from both cultures are brought together to demonstrate that technology and humanity when they work together bring challenges, joy and benefits to all of humankind. From Baoshu comes 'A Trip to the End', from Allen Stroud 'The First', from He Xi 'Never Meet Again in Life', from Amdi Silvestri 'A Minuet of Corpses' and under the guiding eye of Patrick Parrinder (President of the H.G. Wells society) and Yao Haijun (celebrated editor of Science Fiction World in China) fifteen authors create a series of worlds which will enthral and entertain.
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 2023
26 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Parrinder
46 books4 followersPatrick Parrinder took his MA and Ph.D. at Cambridge University, where he held a Fellowship at King's College and published his first two books on Wells, H. G. Wells (1970) and H. G. Wells: The Critical Heritage (1972). He has been Chairman of the H. G. Wells Society and editor of The Wellsian, and has also written on James Joyce, science fiction, literary criticism and the history of the English novel. His book Shadows of the Future (1995) brings together his interests in Wells, science fiction and literary prophecy. Since 1986 he has been Professor of English at the University of Reading.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 14, 2024
I am reading the Hugo nominated stories here, I do not actually have the whole book. So, story by story:
“Answerless Journey”, Han Song, translated by Alex Woodend, a person (it) wakes in what is probably a space ship not remembering much of anything. Another person (another it) also around. Twilight zone-ish, horror and I am not at all sure what is the point. I get this might have been a shocking story in the Twilight Zone era (but even then I think they would have told it much better and with feeling) but in 2024, is this supposed to be edgy, or new or something? This is on the Hugo finalist ballot and must have had at least 27 people nominating (might have been no more than 27, going by the others). Just no. On the positive side, I thought the translation was fluid and interesting use of it for the characters which is likely the translator's choice (?). Though maybe there is some fantastic pun or reference lost in translation because I am really scratching my head here and wondering what made at least 27 people think this was one of the best stories published 2023 or actually good. Not recommended.
“Seeds of Mercury”, by Wang Jinkang, translated by Alex Woodend. A short novella length story, about 50 pages. The length felt short for what it tried to accomplish (but it had far bigger failings than that) but it was so bad it felt interminable. It has that big scope of classical SF, a story on two timelines, what if we populated Mercury with metal based life forms? And it's naively told in all aspects, the hard science (the magically cooling space suits in 20 years, the lack of awareness of the expiration date of our sun), the wooden characters, the lack of subtlety to the society portrayed. It's really really bad. Incidentally I can not judge the accurateness of the translation but I did not like it - there seemed to be a bit of continuity errors or incongruous word choices - like calling friend and earnestly asking for advice to somebody met the day before, or calling a "whimper" to a farewell from a supposedly competent woman, or "huge metal engraving" which was "of course" the inventor (not much modesty) which apparently is referred to as a statue a few paragraphs after but it is THE statue mentioned pages after. I think). But nothing on this story really works for me except maybe ambition but if the reader has read things like Children of Time or Metal Like Blood in the Dark, this seems far far apart in quality to those.
13th June 2024 - I read “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet” by He Xi, yet another Hugo nominated novella and I do not know what to say. It was very bad, in all ways. I think clearly we got bloc voting in effect for these chinese stories (I liked the Bao Shu short story) and it absolutely makes no sense to me this is on the final list of Hugo elligible novellas and things like the bot 9 novella is not. There might be an effect of bad translation around (I think this story referes to some other work, the one quoted afterwards) and it's a big ambitious story of colonization of another star and big dilemmas regarding humanity and not. But, and sorry for saying it outloud, it's just so bad, so puerile and naïve, in story telling techniques, in characterization (engineers are defined character wise because they are engineers, and also women. Women are like that because they are women...), in plot and likelihood. I read a bunch of chinese sf short stories in a row (thank you bloc voters for the Hugos. Your fault) and I am seeing some patterns now which are interesting in abstract: the big ideas and ambition, the throwing big concepts of quantum parity as ansible communication (it will not make a ship shake though and it will be limited by bit-rate not "integer" number of communications) but then thrown with utter naiveté about many other sciences and implementation of technology. And self-inserted authors? Like in another nominated story one of the characters has the same name as the story's author Why? No idea. Anyway this story is a mess, and very very naïve and badly structured. It's too short for the story it tries to tell ( 17k words but it is so bad I am glad it was over fast), it head hops, characters are one dimensional if that. Just no. Thanks to the people nominating these chinese stories for the Hugos this year I read a bunch of those, and can safely say, I do not admire them (except Bao Shu's short story).
My due diligence is now done.
“Answerless Journey”, Han Song, translated by Alex Woodend, a person (it) wakes in what is probably a space ship not remembering much of anything. Another person (another it) also around. Twilight zone-ish, horror and I am not at all sure what is the point. I get this might have been a shocking story in the Twilight Zone era (but even then I think they would have told it much better and with feeling) but in 2024, is this supposed to be edgy, or new or something? This is on the Hugo finalist ballot and must have had at least 27 people nominating (might have been no more than 27, going by the others). Just no. On the positive side, I thought the translation was fluid and interesting use of it for the characters which is likely the translator's choice (?). Though maybe there is some fantastic pun or reference lost in translation because I am really scratching my head here and wondering what made at least 27 people think this was one of the best stories published 2023 or actually good. Not recommended.
“Seeds of Mercury”, by Wang Jinkang, translated by Alex Woodend. A short novella length story, about 50 pages. The length felt short for what it tried to accomplish (but it had far bigger failings than that) but it was so bad it felt interminable. It has that big scope of classical SF, a story on two timelines, what if we populated Mercury with metal based life forms? And it's naively told in all aspects, the hard science (the magically cooling space suits in 20 years, the lack of awareness of the expiration date of our sun), the wooden characters, the lack of subtlety to the society portrayed. It's really really bad. Incidentally I can not judge the accurateness of the translation but I did not like it - there seemed to be a bit of continuity errors or incongruous word choices - like calling friend and earnestly asking for advice to somebody met the day before, or calling a "whimper" to a farewell from a supposedly competent woman, or "huge metal engraving" which was "of course" the inventor (not much modesty) which apparently is referred to as a statue a few paragraphs after but it is THE statue mentioned pages after. I think). But nothing on this story really works for me except maybe ambition but if the reader has read things like Children of Time or Metal Like Blood in the Dark, this seems far far apart in quality to those.
13th June 2024 - I read “Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet” by He Xi, yet another Hugo nominated novella and I do not know what to say. It was very bad, in all ways. I think clearly we got bloc voting in effect for these chinese stories (I liked the Bao Shu short story) and it absolutely makes no sense to me this is on the final list of Hugo elligible novellas and things like the bot 9 novella is not. There might be an effect of bad translation around (I think this story referes to some other work, the one quoted afterwards) and it's a big ambitious story of colonization of another star and big dilemmas regarding humanity and not. But, and sorry for saying it outloud, it's just so bad, so puerile and naïve, in story telling techniques, in characterization (engineers are defined character wise because they are engineers, and also women. Women are like that because they are women...), in plot and likelihood. I read a bunch of chinese sf short stories in a row (thank you bloc voters for the Hugos. Your fault) and I am seeing some patterns now which are interesting in abstract: the big ideas and ambition, the throwing big concepts of quantum parity as ansible communication (it will not make a ship shake though and it will be limited by bit-rate not "integer" number of communications) but then thrown with utter naiveté about many other sciences and implementation of technology. And self-inserted authors? Like in another nominated story one of the characters has the same name as the story's author Why? No idea. Anyway this story is a mess, and very very naïve and badly structured. It's too short for the story it tries to tell ( 17k words but it is so bad I am glad it was over fast), it head hops, characters are one dimensional if that. Just no. Thanks to the people nominating these chinese stories for the Hugos this year I read a bunch of those, and can safely say, I do not admire them (except Bao Shu's short story).
My due diligence is now done.
June 2, 2024
Review for three stories only:
“Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend. This is a strange one. A familiar plot of amnesiac people in a spaceship. Forgot they're human. Some mystery. Weird ending.
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend - it was quite intriguing, a story about terraforming/planet colonization that yielded an unexpected result.
“Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend. I actually quite liked it. What if we could create another lifeform in another planet? The story is divided to before the lifeform was created and seeded and after the lifeform created it's own civilisation. I enjoyed the first part better. The second part could be better in plotting, I guess.
“Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend. This is a strange one. A familiar plot of amnesiac people in a spaceship. Forgot they're human. Some mystery. Weird ending.
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend - it was quite intriguing, a story about terraforming/planet colonization that yielded an unexpected result.
“Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend. I actually quite liked it. What if we could create another lifeform in another planet? The story is divided to before the lifeform was created and seeded and after the lifeform created it's own civilisation. I enjoyed the first part better. The second part could be better in plotting, I guess.
April 20, 2023
As you'd expect from the title all of these stories involve being in space, or having space come to them. Seven were written in English and six were translated from Chinese by Alex Woodend. Five of the English-language stories are reprints and two are new. The six Chinese-language stories appear here translated for the first time, as far as I can tell anyway.
Alex Shvartsman - The Race for Arcadia (2015)
This is a mildly amusing and severely critical story of a deeply embarrassed Russian government that is desperate to prove that they still matter. I don't believe it to be satire because this story seems entirely plausible within the context presented. The protagonist, whose death is imminent from a terminal illness, is blatantly told that he's being sent on a suicide space mission for the purpose of propaganda. If they're willing to admit that much, what aren't they admitting?
Meh
Chin Zijun - Shine (2016)
Qi Fengyang is in despair of never being able to achieve his dream when the extremely wealthy Huo Changao offers to fulfill it for him. All he has to do is accept what may a suicide mission to rescue Sun Shi'ning from a failed Europa expedition. She's the former's ex-lover and the latter's wife. The rescue will take the cooperation of the world and much science, though that's nothing compared to their passion and determination. However, neither one is being honest about their motives, so what's this really all about?
This reminded me superficially of a mix between 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Martian, the former of which is explicitly referenced in the text, and the latter if it was told from an Earth-side perspective. I continue be amazed how often Elon Musk is included in such stories, as he's mentioned here in passing as Alan Musk.
Meh
Leah Cypess - On The Ship (2017)
This is the sixth story by Cypess that I've read and I've enjoyed them all. I believe this is the first science fiction story I've read by her. Generation ships are a setting I tend to like and this one more so than usual because it reminded me of Philip K. Dick. That's both all I want to say about it and all I think needs to be said.
Enjoyable
Wang Jinkang - Seeds of Mercury (2002)
What an astounding story. It started out enjoyably and by the end it became one of the best translated works of short fiction I've read and possibly one of the better ones I've ever read.
Chen Yizhe has a blessed life of comfort, wealth, and familial bliss. One day He Jun, a lawyer, informs him that his aunt Sha Wu has died and she wants him to carry on her legacy. She's created a new life that can only prosper on Mercury, hence the title, which would be the seeds of a new civilization. The parts of the story that take place in that civilization are an utterly delightful exploration of Mercurian society, science, and religion.
Highly Enjoyable
Eleanor R. Wood - Her Glimmering Façade (2016)
This is another type of story that I really like. There's just something about someone waking up alone in a mysterious location with no idea of their situation that appeals to me. That allows me to entirely overlook that it's entirely conceptual and nothing else. Saying what the concept is would spoil the story.
Enjoyable
Han Song - Answerless Journey (1995)
Creature wakes up in a location with no memories and meets Same Kind, who has the same condition. It's an allegorical existential comedy horror, but I'd only be guessing about what. The title is apt, too much so really. This is the seventh story I've read by Han Song, though it's only the second that I haven't assigned my worst rating to. He writes in a way that I personally strongly dislike.
Meh
Ronald D. Ferguson - Cylinders (2017)
Jerry is a robot guardian for Rachael, a teenage girl, and is modeled on her deceased father. They live in a cylindrical space station that is developing a new technology that will revolutionize humanity and exploration. Saboteurs on board would see it all stopped. Mostly the story is Jerry watching Rachael's day to day life as his upgrades have him becoming more and more similar to her father.
Enjoyable
He Xi - Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet (2010)
Humanity desires to settle many planets to avoid extinction, but many of them have conditions unsuitable for standard humans. Many different pioneer species were designed to settle these planets. They only have provisional status as humans. A team has been sent to judge whether the settlers of a certain planet qualify as human or not.
Ok
Allen Stroud - The First (2023)
Two astronauts arrive on Mars believing that no humans had come before them, but they were wrong. Those before them were the earliest humans, though they were not The First to be on Mars.
Meh
Zhao Haihong - The Darkness of Mirror Planet (2003)
This seems to be a wholly allegorical story that I think I understood, but didn't like at all for what it was saying or how it was said. Mirror, the protagonist, wants to join the mission to Planet Dark, which requires leaving her husband Lack and passing a psychological test.
Blah
Amdi Silvestri - A Minuet of Corpses (2018)
This was meant to be a creepy horror story, but it didn't do anything at all for me. A spaceship comes across what me be a rouge planetary graveyard or something more sinister and spooky stuff happens. Not my kind of horror at all.
Blah
Bao Shu - Doomsday Tour (2013)
A self-fulfilling 2012 end of the world story. Alien disaster tourists want to make sure their money was well spent. A galactic travel agency want to ensure their profits continue unimpeded. Corruption is an universal ideal.
Ok
Russell James - The Emissary (2023)
Shane had always wanted to be an astronaut. After the Apollo missions ended in 1972 he thought that chance had passed. In 1976, he's kidnapped by the CIA at the behest of NASA. They tell him that he's their last chance and everything counts on him. The secret truth of Apollo 17 is revealed.
Meh
I received this eARC from Flame Tree Press through NetGalley.
Alex Shvartsman - The Race for Arcadia (2015)
This is a mildly amusing and severely critical story of a deeply embarrassed Russian government that is desperate to prove that they still matter. I don't believe it to be satire because this story seems entirely plausible within the context presented. The protagonist, whose death is imminent from a terminal illness, is blatantly told that he's being sent on a suicide space mission for the purpose of propaganda. If they're willing to admit that much, what aren't they admitting?
Meh
Chin Zijun - Shine (2016)
Qi Fengyang is in despair of never being able to achieve his dream when the extremely wealthy Huo Changao offers to fulfill it for him. All he has to do is accept what may a suicide mission to rescue Sun Shi'ning from a failed Europa expedition. She's the former's ex-lover and the latter's wife. The rescue will take the cooperation of the world and much science, though that's nothing compared to their passion and determination. However, neither one is being honest about their motives, so what's this really all about?
This reminded me superficially of a mix between 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Martian, the former of which is explicitly referenced in the text, and the latter if it was told from an Earth-side perspective. I continue be amazed how often Elon Musk is included in such stories, as he's mentioned here in passing as Alan Musk.
Meh
Leah Cypess - On The Ship (2017)
This is the sixth story by Cypess that I've read and I've enjoyed them all. I believe this is the first science fiction story I've read by her. Generation ships are a setting I tend to like and this one more so than usual because it reminded me of Philip K. Dick. That's both all I want to say about it and all I think needs to be said.
Enjoyable
Wang Jinkang - Seeds of Mercury (2002)
What an astounding story. It started out enjoyably and by the end it became one of the best translated works of short fiction I've read and possibly one of the better ones I've ever read.
Chen Yizhe has a blessed life of comfort, wealth, and familial bliss. One day He Jun, a lawyer, informs him that his aunt Sha Wu has died and she wants him to carry on her legacy. She's created a new life that can only prosper on Mercury, hence the title, which would be the seeds of a new civilization. The parts of the story that take place in that civilization are an utterly delightful exploration of Mercurian society, science, and religion.
Highly Enjoyable
Eleanor R. Wood - Her Glimmering Façade (2016)
This is another type of story that I really like. There's just something about someone waking up alone in a mysterious location with no idea of their situation that appeals to me. That allows me to entirely overlook that it's entirely conceptual and nothing else. Saying what the concept is would spoil the story.
Enjoyable
Han Song - Answerless Journey (1995)
Creature wakes up in a location with no memories and meets Same Kind, who has the same condition. It's an allegorical existential comedy horror, but I'd only be guessing about what. The title is apt, too much so really. This is the seventh story I've read by Han Song, though it's only the second that I haven't assigned my worst rating to. He writes in a way that I personally strongly dislike.
Meh
Ronald D. Ferguson - Cylinders (2017)
Jerry is a robot guardian for Rachael, a teenage girl, and is modeled on her deceased father. They live in a cylindrical space station that is developing a new technology that will revolutionize humanity and exploration. Saboteurs on board would see it all stopped. Mostly the story is Jerry watching Rachael's day to day life as his upgrades have him becoming more and more similar to her father.
Enjoyable
He Xi - Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet (2010)
Humanity desires to settle many planets to avoid extinction, but many of them have conditions unsuitable for standard humans. Many different pioneer species were designed to settle these planets. They only have provisional status as humans. A team has been sent to judge whether the settlers of a certain planet qualify as human or not.
Ok
Allen Stroud - The First (2023)
Two astronauts arrive on Mars believing that no humans had come before them, but they were wrong. Those before them were the earliest humans, though they were not The First to be on Mars.
Meh
Zhao Haihong - The Darkness of Mirror Planet (2003)
This seems to be a wholly allegorical story that I think I understood, but didn't like at all for what it was saying or how it was said. Mirror, the protagonist, wants to join the mission to Planet Dark, which requires leaving her husband Lack and passing a psychological test.
Blah
Amdi Silvestri - A Minuet of Corpses (2018)
This was meant to be a creepy horror story, but it didn't do anything at all for me. A spaceship comes across what me be a rouge planetary graveyard or something more sinister and spooky stuff happens. Not my kind of horror at all.
Blah
Bao Shu - Doomsday Tour (2013)
A self-fulfilling 2012 end of the world story. Alien disaster tourists want to make sure their money was well spent. A galactic travel agency want to ensure their profits continue unimpeded. Corruption is an universal ideal.
Ok
Russell James - The Emissary (2023)
Shane had always wanted to be an astronaut. After the Apollo missions ended in 1972 he thought that chance had passed. In 1976, he's kidnapped by the CIA at the behest of NASA. They tell him that he's their last chance and everything counts on him. The secret truth of Apollo 17 is revealed.
Meh
I received this eARC from Flame Tree Press through NetGalley.
July 25, 2025
Chinese Hugo finalists
I bought Adventures in Space because it includes English translations of three Chinese finalists for 2024 Hugo awards: the novellas Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet, by ?? = He Xi, and Seeds of Mercury, by ?? ? = Wang Jinkang and the short story "Answerless Journey", by Han Song. I am very sorry to report that they all stink. Also, I suspect the translations are poor. I don't read Chinese, so my basis for that final statement is just that the English translation reads awkwardly.
"Answerless Journey" is the worst of the three. "Answerless Journey" is not an inaccurate title, but "Confusing, Painful, and Pointless Journey" would be more precise. It felt like a new version of Waiting for Godot, except that I once saw a video performance of Waiting for Godot, and it was funny. "Answerless Journey" is not that.
Seeds of Mercury is a stretched nanotechnology science fiction story that doesn't really make a lot of sense or portray any interesting characters.
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet is the best of the three, but it is fatally wounded by its dependence on an utterly idiotic premise for its main conflict.
I am open to the possibility that there is some deep Chinese literary reason why I am failing to get these stories. Whether or no, I definitely do NOT get them.
Blog review.
I bought Adventures in Space because it includes English translations of three Chinese finalists for 2024 Hugo awards: the novellas Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet, by ?? = He Xi, and Seeds of Mercury, by ?? ? = Wang Jinkang and the short story "Answerless Journey", by Han Song. I am very sorry to report that they all stink. Also, I suspect the translations are poor. I don't read Chinese, so my basis for that final statement is just that the English translation reads awkwardly.
"Answerless Journey" is the worst of the three. "Answerless Journey" is not an inaccurate title, but "Confusing, Painful, and Pointless Journey" would be more precise. It felt like a new version of Waiting for Godot, except that I once saw a video performance of Waiting for Godot, and it was funny. "Answerless Journey" is not that.
Seeds of Mercury is a stretched nanotechnology science fiction story that doesn't really make a lot of sense or portray any interesting characters.
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet is the best of the three, but it is fatally wounded by its dependence on an utterly idiotic premise for its main conflict.
I am open to the possibility that there is some deep Chinese literary reason why I am failing to get these stories. Whether or no, I definitely do NOT get them.
Blog review.
might-not-read
June 13, 2024Since I read only three stories for the 2024 Hugo awards, I'll leave a rating off. But based on those stories, I'm not inclined to read any more.
"Answerless Journey" was rough. It felt like it was trying to be shocking for the sake of it. I didn't like it.
"Seeds of Mercury" was alright. But nothing about it was that innovative--one narrative strand had a billionaire funding space travel and seeding alien life (and included plenty of cringey descriptions about how hideously disabled he was), and the other strand followed a religious civilization that springs up because the evolved seeded life doesn't understand science. All things I've seen before, with pretty flat characters, though the story gets points compared to the other two for being the most coherent.
"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet" felt like it was missing a lot in translation? I'm not sure. Many things were not explained, or only explained in the moment, almost as an afterthought. It read like someone who didn't plan the story ahead of time, who kept taking it in different directions without building on anything or bringing back early events in a way that made sense. The ending was going for lots of emotion, but it read like melodrama because the characters are so flat. One of them (a woman, of course) even passed out at one point because she got so emotional!
Now I need to decide how to rank these for my ballot. Is the roughness in the translation? Is it the underlying stories themselves? In the end, since I can't read the stories in their native language, I can only go by the work I have in front of me.
"Answerless Journey" was rough. It felt like it was trying to be shocking for the sake of it. I didn't like it.
"Seeds of Mercury" was alright. But nothing about it was that innovative--one narrative strand had a billionaire funding space travel and seeding alien life (and included plenty of cringey descriptions about how hideously disabled he was), and the other strand followed a religious civilization that springs up because the evolved seeded life doesn't understand science. All things I've seen before, with pretty flat characters, though the story gets points compared to the other two for being the most coherent.
"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet" felt like it was missing a lot in translation? I'm not sure. Many things were not explained, or only explained in the moment, almost as an afterthought. It read like someone who didn't plan the story ahead of time, who kept taking it in different directions without building on anything or bringing back early events in a way that made sense. The ending was going for lots of emotion, but it read like melodrama because the characters are so flat. One of them (a woman, of course) even passed out at one point because she got so emotional!
Now I need to decide how to rank these for my ballot. Is the roughness in the translation? Is it the underlying stories themselves? In the end, since I can't read the stories in their native language, I can only go by the work I have in front of me.
January 8, 2023
Adventures in Space sounds like a Groff Conklin title from the Golden Age of SF but it is in fact a modern multi-author anthology from Flaming Tree Press, very much in the spirit of the current golden age of pluralistic and multi-cultural speculative fiction. In this case, half the stories are translated Chinese SF and half English language. The stories share a general space theme, as the title suggests and range from Near-horror like Alan Stroud’s “The First” to more metaphorical, like “The Darkness of the Mirror Planet” by Zhao Haihong..” In some ways the book is appealing as it offers something for everyone but I found no standout story. I would describe it as solid, readable, and worth a look.
May 2, 2024
Marking this complete because I read the 3 stories I bought the collection for. Maybe one day I'll go back and read the other stories in this collection.
"Answerless Journey" by Han Song: 1 star. WTF even was that.
"Seeds of Mercury" by Wang Jinkang: 3 stars, it was fine. Concept was better than execution.
"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet" by He Xi: 2 stars. Mostly I was bored.
"Answerless Journey" by Han Song: 1 star. WTF even was that.
"Seeds of Mercury" by Wang Jinkang: 3 stars, it was fine. Concept was better than execution.
"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet" by He Xi: 2 stars. Mostly I was bored.
May 25, 2024
Like most short story collections, this had some that I liked more and others I didn't enjoy as much.
May 27, 2024
Every story ranges from forgettable to mediocre. Nothing really that good in here
April 14, 2023
A truly thrilling, engaging, and diverse set of short stores in the science fiction genre. The first half were particularly memorable and mind-expanding. I couldn't put it down. But about halfway the pace started to lag. I can't quite put my finger on it. There were some rather experimental stories that seemed to meander or lean too much on shock value or obscurity. (Trying to avoid spoilers.) I was also surprised at the lack of diversity beyond the writers' backgrounds ... sex and gender ... sexuality ... race and ethnicity ... even class, a staple of the social climate in science fiction when all else is left to the wayside, yet barely touched upon here. These are more like visions and nightmares of future space-faring, focused more on the more golden age question of "what could happen if ...?" I also wasn't sure why the mix of Chinese and English writers -- not complaining, just not understanding the connection and selection. Finally, the galley copy was truly a challenge to read, with sudden headers in the middle of the text, partly a chunk of the narrative and partly a warning not to share or resell ... I hope that the publisher fixes the formatting for future offerings. Altogether, well worth reading, even if it's a bit all over the place ... and not just in terms of traversing time and the universe.
March 1, 2023
Any Science Fiction fans in a reading drought? This book is the remedy you need! This was just what I have been missing in Science Fiction!
I used to love Science Fiction anthologies as a way to discover new authors and I became interested in Chinese Science Fiction after reading The Three Body Problem. But, lately, I have been shying away from the “Best American Science Fiction” and the “Best Science Fiction of the year” books as they seem to be trying too hard to be edgy and “woke” and include very little good, wholesome, entertaining science fiction.
This book had the type of stories that sparked my love of the genre. This book had entertaining, near future stories set in near-Earth orbit, on Mars, on the moons of Jupiter, and on spaceships bound for places unknown. Some moments that were memorable to me (without giving too much away) were the “haunted” space ship, the matrix type virtual reality situation, the spooky “asteroid” field, zombies(?) on Mars, the mirror-world alternate universe, and the alien in trouble—reminiscent of ET.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and am eager to explore more work by the authors featured here.
I used to love Science Fiction anthologies as a way to discover new authors and I became interested in Chinese Science Fiction after reading The Three Body Problem. But, lately, I have been shying away from the “Best American Science Fiction” and the “Best Science Fiction of the year” books as they seem to be trying too hard to be edgy and “woke” and include very little good, wholesome, entertaining science fiction.
This book had the type of stories that sparked my love of the genre. This book had entertaining, near future stories set in near-Earth orbit, on Mars, on the moons of Jupiter, and on spaceships bound for places unknown. Some moments that were memorable to me (without giving too much away) were the “haunted” space ship, the matrix type virtual reality situation, the spooky “asteroid” field, zombies(?) on Mars, the mirror-world alternate universe, and the alien in trouble—reminiscent of ET.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and am eager to explore more work by the authors featured here.
July 5, 2024
Adventures in Space collects multiple short stories and novellas that I have read. Goodreads keeps merging them into this book so... I give up, and just merge the various reviews into one.
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet by He Xi.
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. I have never read anything by this author before, and I did not know what to expect.
The story was definitely interesting, but there were a couple of elements that really bothered me. One was the misunderstanding of how quantum entanglement works: quantum entanglement does not enable faster than light communication. Since the work reads a lot like a hard science fiction story, that misunderstanding really bugged me.
It is interesting to see how this story and Cixin Liu's The Dark Forest reflect on the risks of encountering other intelligent life in space. I have read a very small sample of Chinese Sci-Fi to make any generalization, but I start seeing some interesting pattern and differences when compared with Western sci-fi. I find this very interesting and intriguing, I need to read more!
Rating: 2 star (it's ok)
Seeds of Mercury by Wang Jinkang.
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. I have never read anything by this author before, and I did not know what to expect.
The story is very enjoyable, fun to read, and very hard to put down. It is the story of a new life form, created by a scientist on Earth, looked after by her businessman nephew, and then taken to a place where it can evolve and thrive by a billionaire with severe deformities. And while at times you may think you may know where it is headed... expect to be surprised!
Rating: 4 star (I liked it a lot)
Answerless Journey by Han Song.
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Short Story category. I have never read anything by this author before, and I did not know what to expect.
This is the story of two people stuck on a spaceship alone with a complete loss of memory. The solitude, the lack of memories, and the food scarcity brings forward some paranoia and distrust.
The story is enjoyable and interesting, I was a little disappointed about the ending (a little open to interpretation). I won't say more to avoid spoilers.
Rating: 3 star (I liked it)
Average Rating:
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet by He Xi.
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. I have never read anything by this author before, and I did not know what to expect.
The story was definitely interesting, but there were a couple of elements that really bothered me. One was the misunderstanding of how quantum entanglement works: quantum entanglement does not enable faster than light communication. Since the work reads a lot like a hard science fiction story, that misunderstanding really bugged me.
It is interesting to see how this story and Cixin Liu's The Dark Forest reflect on the risks of encountering other intelligent life in space. I have read a very small sample of Chinese Sci-Fi to make any generalization, but I start seeing some interesting pattern and differences when compared with Western sci-fi. I find this very interesting and intriguing, I need to read more!
Rating: 2 star (it's ok)
Seeds of Mercury by Wang Jinkang.
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novella category. I have never read anything by this author before, and I did not know what to expect.
The story is very enjoyable, fun to read, and very hard to put down. It is the story of a new life form, created by a scientist on Earth, looked after by her businessman nephew, and then taken to a place where it can evolve and thrive by a billionaire with severe deformities. And while at times you may think you may know where it is headed... expect to be surprised!
Rating: 4 star (I liked it a lot)
Answerless Journey by Han Song.
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Short Story category. I have never read anything by this author before, and I did not know what to expect.
This is the story of two people stuck on a spaceship alone with a complete loss of memory. The solitude, the lack of memories, and the food scarcity brings forward some paranoia and distrust.
The story is enjoyable and interesting, I was a little disappointed about the ending (a little open to interpretation). I won't say more to avoid spoilers.
Rating: 3 star (I liked it)
Average Rating:
June 9, 2024
“Seeds of Mercury” by Wang Jinkang, translated by Alex Woodend
Hugo Award finalist - Best Novella
4 Stars
An Earth scientist creates the building blocks of new life based on metals and then an eccentric billionaire funds a program to seed Mercury with this proto-life. The story alternates between the efforts to develop the support equipment necessary for this kind of expedition and the far future evolved sentient life that eventually develops, life that worships their ancient human progenitor. The story is a cautionary tale about unintended consequences. The ending is a little weak, but overall, this is probably the strongest of the Chinese language stories in this year's batch of Hugo finalists.
“Answerless Journey” by Han Song, translated by Alex Woodend
Hugo Award finalist - Best Short Story
3 Stars
A lot of questions get asked, but few, if any, are answered in this meditative tale about two amnesiacs, named Creature and Same Kind, who wake up in a space ship. Over time, they remember some things, but not enough. They deduce there must be another entity on board who they dub The Third, but it cannot be found. The ending tries to be twisty, but ends up being only enigmatic.
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet” by He Xi, translated by Alex Woodend
Hugo Award finalist - Best Novella
3 Stars
This is a talky and exposition heavy story of a team investigating whether the bioengineered settlers on a terraformed alien planet are qualified to be designated as human. It does raise some valid questions about how real world humans treat other humans and animals, but overall it was just ok.
I didn't read any of the other stories in this anthology.
Hugo Award finalist - Best Novella
4 Stars
An Earth scientist creates the building blocks of new life based on metals and then an eccentric billionaire funds a program to seed Mercury with this proto-life. The story alternates between the efforts to develop the support equipment necessary for this kind of expedition and the far future evolved sentient life that eventually develops, life that worships their ancient human progenitor. The story is a cautionary tale about unintended consequences. The ending is a little weak, but overall, this is probably the strongest of the Chinese language stories in this year's batch of Hugo finalists.
“Answerless Journey” by Han Song, translated by Alex Woodend
Hugo Award finalist - Best Short Story
3 Stars
A lot of questions get asked, but few, if any, are answered in this meditative tale about two amnesiacs, named Creature and Same Kind, who wake up in a space ship. Over time, they remember some things, but not enough. They deduce there must be another entity on board who they dub The Third, but it cannot be found. The ending tries to be twisty, but ends up being only enigmatic.
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet” by He Xi, translated by Alex Woodend
Hugo Award finalist - Best Novella
3 Stars
This is a talky and exposition heavy story of a team investigating whether the bioengineered settlers on a terraformed alien planet are qualified to be designated as human. It does raise some valid questions about how real world humans treat other humans and animals, but overall it was just ok.
I didn't read any of the other stories in this anthology.
February 27, 2023
This is a 3.5 star read for me. I always round half stars down.
This anthology was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I found some stories more enjoyable than others. On the Ship, Cylinders, The Darkness of Mirror Planet, and The Emissary were my favorites, though not the only great stories in this collection. I was especially moved by Cylinders and The Emissary; they were heartfelt stories full of love for the universe and the beings that reside in it. I tend to gravitate toward uplifting stories, so perhaps other readers will have different favorites.
Overall, I found the stories to be well researched; they will appeal to fans of The Martian and other hard sci-fi. There’s also a lot to love here if you’re a fan of sci-fi horror. I appreciated the variety of stories included. Each one added something unique while still aligning with the central theme of the anthology. I found that a lot of the stories I didn’t enjoy as much were those with writing I couldn’t easily connect to. I personally felt like some of the same prose choices that bothered me were present in all the translated stories. It’s a shame that in the translated stories, I didn’t get a sense of the author’s individual style and voice as a writer. I think I would have enjoyed this anthology more overall if I did. Nevertheless, I’m glad I encountered so many authors I hadn’t read before, and I think I’ll seek out more from some of them now that I’ve read this anthology.
Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This anthology was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I found some stories more enjoyable than others. On the Ship, Cylinders, The Darkness of Mirror Planet, and The Emissary were my favorites, though not the only great stories in this collection. I was especially moved by Cylinders and The Emissary; they were heartfelt stories full of love for the universe and the beings that reside in it. I tend to gravitate toward uplifting stories, so perhaps other readers will have different favorites.
Overall, I found the stories to be well researched; they will appeal to fans of The Martian and other hard sci-fi. There’s also a lot to love here if you’re a fan of sci-fi horror. I appreciated the variety of stories included. Each one added something unique while still aligning with the central theme of the anthology. I found that a lot of the stories I didn’t enjoy as much were those with writing I couldn’t easily connect to. I personally felt like some of the same prose choices that bothered me were present in all the translated stories. It’s a shame that in the translated stories, I didn’t get a sense of the author’s individual style and voice as a writer. I think I would have enjoyed this anthology more overall if I did. Nevertheless, I’m glad I encountered so many authors I hadn’t read before, and I think I’ll seek out more from some of them now that I’ve read this anthology.
Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
April 26, 2023
I have just finished reading this wonderful anthology of stories by Chinese and English writers. All of them are about space in some way, but thrown in are VR, aliens, mind transfers, potential wars, crew conflict, amnesia, disability, children, androids replacing dead people, aloneness, colonising new planets, and scary unknown things on Mars.
There were some really delightful stories in here. My favourites:
- Alex Shvartsman’s The Race for Arcadia has a fascinating question at its centre: Do you have to be embodied to travel in space?
- On The Ship by Leah Cypess and Her Glimmering Facade by Eleanor Wood have similar ideas with VR, but the latter is deeply sad (won’t spoil it for you);
- Seeds of Mercury by Wang Jinkang just grazed my warning button for its representation of disability, but is also immensely imaginative and amazing;
- Russell James’s The Emissary is a quick Independence Day-type story;
- Doomsday Tour by Bao Shu, an amusing (depending on your perspective) tale about Doomsday on December 21, 2012;
- A Minuet of Corpses by Amdi Silvestri is incredibly spooky, and unexpected. That one’s going to stay with me.
I didn’t like every single story, and the ones I didn’t like, I really didn’t like. However, all of the stories had great worldbuilding and were interesting, and my favourites were great. So, although the anthology is a little uneven, it is an excellent and recommended read.
Thank you to Flame Tree Press and to NetGalley for giving me access.
There were some really delightful stories in here. My favourites:
- Alex Shvartsman’s The Race for Arcadia has a fascinating question at its centre: Do you have to be embodied to travel in space?
- On The Ship by Leah Cypess and Her Glimmering Facade by Eleanor Wood have similar ideas with VR, but the latter is deeply sad (won’t spoil it for you);
- Seeds of Mercury by Wang Jinkang just grazed my warning button for its representation of disability, but is also immensely imaginative and amazing;
- Russell James’s The Emissary is a quick Independence Day-type story;
- Doomsday Tour by Bao Shu, an amusing (depending on your perspective) tale about Doomsday on December 21, 2012;
- A Minuet of Corpses by Amdi Silvestri is incredibly spooky, and unexpected. That one’s going to stay with me.
I didn’t like every single story, and the ones I didn’t like, I really didn’t like. However, all of the stories had great worldbuilding and were interesting, and my favourites were great. So, although the anthology is a little uneven, it is an excellent and recommended read.
Thank you to Flame Tree Press and to NetGalley for giving me access.
May 27, 2024
Story ratings:
The Race for Arcadia by Alex Shvartsman: 4.5/5
Shine by Chen Zijun: 3.5/5
On the Ship by Leah Cypess: 4/5
Seeds of Mercury by Wang Jinkang: 4/5
Her Glimmering Facade by Eleanor R. Wood: 4.5/5
Answerless Journey by Han Song: 4/5
Cylinders by Ronald D. Ferguson: 4/5
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet by He Xi: 4.5/5
The First by Allen Stroud: 3.5/5
The Darkness of Mirror Planet by Zhao Haihong: 3/5
Minuet of Corpses by Amdi Silvestri: 3.5/5
Doomsday Tour by Bao Shu: 4/5
The Emissary by Russell James: 4/5
Final rating: 4/5
Adventures in Space is a wonderful anthology of space-focused sci-fi short stories, novelettes, and novellas from author around the world. The sheer creativity and fun found in this lesser known collection is well worth the read for sci-fi fans. I honestly would never have even heard of this anthology had several entries not been nominated for the 2024 Hugo Awards. Not only were those entries stellar, the collection as a whole is probably my favorite I've read in my admittedly limited experience with short fiction.
Each story takes such a different turn with its use of space, and even when stories share similar themes, the editors smartly placed them alongside each other so their differences in juxtaposition shine all the greater. I really enjoyed reading stories from Chinese authors as well, as they have a storied history with sci-fi that I think the rest of the world has yet to really fully experience. It's unfortunate that some of the translations are a bit awkward, but I do still commend this translator for all the work they did bringing these stories to English readers for the first time.
There are really only a few stories that are underwhelming and only one true dud though it's not terrible. Just underdeveloped. I don't want to bog this down in too much microanalysis of each and every story, so I'll just say if you like space-based sci-fi, this book will give you so many cool, new experiences in that realm. Highly recommended!
The Race for Arcadia by Alex Shvartsman: 4.5/5
Shine by Chen Zijun: 3.5/5
On the Ship by Leah Cypess: 4/5
Seeds of Mercury by Wang Jinkang: 4/5
Her Glimmering Facade by Eleanor R. Wood: 4.5/5
Answerless Journey by Han Song: 4/5
Cylinders by Ronald D. Ferguson: 4/5
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet by He Xi: 4.5/5
The First by Allen Stroud: 3.5/5
The Darkness of Mirror Planet by Zhao Haihong: 3/5
Minuet of Corpses by Amdi Silvestri: 3.5/5
Doomsday Tour by Bao Shu: 4/5
The Emissary by Russell James: 4/5
Final rating: 4/5
Adventures in Space is a wonderful anthology of space-focused sci-fi short stories, novelettes, and novellas from author around the world. The sheer creativity and fun found in this lesser known collection is well worth the read for sci-fi fans. I honestly would never have even heard of this anthology had several entries not been nominated for the 2024 Hugo Awards. Not only were those entries stellar, the collection as a whole is probably my favorite I've read in my admittedly limited experience with short fiction.
Each story takes such a different turn with its use of space, and even when stories share similar themes, the editors smartly placed them alongside each other so their differences in juxtaposition shine all the greater. I really enjoyed reading stories from Chinese authors as well, as they have a storied history with sci-fi that I think the rest of the world has yet to really fully experience. It's unfortunate that some of the translations are a bit awkward, but I do still commend this translator for all the work they did bringing these stories to English readers for the first time.
There are really only a few stories that are underwhelming and only one true dud though it's not terrible. Just underdeveloped. I don't want to bog this down in too much microanalysis of each and every story, so I'll just say if you like space-based sci-fi, this book will give you so many cool, new experiences in that realm. Highly recommended!
April 25, 2024
All the good stories in the book are at the end. Most of the others are dull, derivative, unpleasant or just plain incomprehensible.
"The Race for Arcadia" by Alex Schvartzman: derivative
"Shine" by Chen Zijun: derivative (for both of these first two: Andy Weir did it better.)
"On the Ship" by Leah Cypess: unpleasant
"Seeds of Mercury" by Wang Jinkang: kind of incomprehensible (nominated for a Hugo Award)
"Her Glimmering Façade" by Eleanor R. Wood: unpleasant (deeply depressing)
"Answerless Journey" by Han Song: unpleasant and incomprehensible (nominated for a Hugo Award)
"Cylinders" by Ronald D. Ferguson: unpleasant
"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet" by He Xi: unpleasant, dull, and incomprehensible (nominated for a Hugo Award; arguably the worst story in this collection)
"The First" by Allen Stroud: unpleasant, but for the first time in this book I was actually invested in a story
"The Darkness of Mirror Planet" by Zhao Haihong: unpleasant, and uses the "it was all a dream" trope which I dislike
"Minuet of Corpses" by Amdi Silvestri: incredibly creepy, but actually a good story
"Doomsday Tour" by Bao Shu: depressing substance matter, but kind of funny in a macabre way and has some clever social commentary. Too bad this story wasn't the one that got nominated for a Hugo Award as I would rate it higher than any of the three in this anthology that did.
"The Emissary" by Russell James: not bad, and actually ends the anthology on an overall good note
"The Race for Arcadia" by Alex Schvartzman: derivative
"Shine" by Chen Zijun: derivative (for both of these first two: Andy Weir did it better.)
"On the Ship" by Leah Cypess: unpleasant
"Seeds of Mercury" by Wang Jinkang: kind of incomprehensible (nominated for a Hugo Award)
"Her Glimmering Façade" by Eleanor R. Wood: unpleasant (deeply depressing)
"Answerless Journey" by Han Song: unpleasant and incomprehensible (nominated for a Hugo Award)
"Cylinders" by Ronald D. Ferguson: unpleasant
"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet" by He Xi: unpleasant, dull, and incomprehensible (nominated for a Hugo Award; arguably the worst story in this collection)
"The First" by Allen Stroud: unpleasant, but for the first time in this book I was actually invested in a story
"The Darkness of Mirror Planet" by Zhao Haihong: unpleasant, and uses the "it was all a dream" trope which I dislike
"Minuet of Corpses" by Amdi Silvestri: incredibly creepy, but actually a good story
"Doomsday Tour" by Bao Shu: depressing substance matter, but kind of funny in a macabre way and has some clever social commentary. Too bad this story wasn't the one that got nominated for a Hugo Award as I would rate it higher than any of the three in this anthology that did.
"The Emissary" by Russell James: not bad, and actually ends the anthology on an overall good note
May 29, 2024
I read two of these novellas for the Hugo's... color me not very impressed. Its difficult to tell if the original writing or the translation was the problem for these two stories, but the writing was pretty rough for both of them. The fact that I read beyond "wifey" on page one was a real feat of strength. Anyway, quick takes:
Seeds of Mercury - 3 stars
There are some really interesting ideas in this story but the narrative is all over the place. I actually think the plot would have been better served by a short story or longer novel. (also this is where the cursed translation wifey will try to ruin your enjoyment of the story)
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet - 2.5 stars
I wanted to connect with the characters more than I did here. The author was trying to do a more character driven take on the planet-hopping new alien life story but none of the characters were fleshed out enough to make it work. Some interesting ideas but ultimately let down by the writing and characterization.
Actually both of these stories take on the concept of new (alien) life started by humans, what that looks like in the future, and ethical implications. I think seeds of mercury does it slightly better. But, these will be the bottom two votes for me in the novella category unfortunately.
Seeds of Mercury - 3 stars
There are some really interesting ideas in this story but the narrative is all over the place. I actually think the plot would have been better served by a short story or longer novel. (also this is where the cursed translation wifey will try to ruin your enjoyment of the story)
Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet - 2.5 stars
I wanted to connect with the characters more than I did here. The author was trying to do a more character driven take on the planet-hopping new alien life story but none of the characters were fleshed out enough to make it work. Some interesting ideas but ultimately let down by the writing and characterization.
Actually both of these stories take on the concept of new (alien) life started by humans, what that looks like in the future, and ethical implications. I think seeds of mercury does it slightly better. But, these will be the bottom two votes for me in the novella category unfortunately.
January 26, 2023
This is a collection of 13 solid science fiction stories with a common theme of space exploration. The authors are a mix of Chinese and Western authors. There are wormholes, skip points for accelerating a ship outside the solar system, nanotechnology, cryogenic suspension, familiar ideas in the sci-fi realm. For me there were two standout stories, the first “The Race for Arcadia” by Alex Shvartsman about a race between the Russians, Americans and Indians to send a manned mission to a planet first explored by a Chinese drone called Arcadia. The lightest ship will have the advantage, Nikolai, a mathematician who has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor piloting the “Yuri Gargarin” plans to be first but all is not as it appears. The other story that stood out for me was “The Seeds of Mercury” by Wang Jinkang, which is about a Chinese scientist’s work to establish and evolve a non-carbon based life form on the planet Mercury, where carbon-based life forms would be frazzled. Anyone interested in the possibilities of travel to other planets would be entertained by this collection.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy. I leave this review voluntarily.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy. I leave this review voluntarily.
January 9, 2026
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/adventures-in-space-eds-patrick-parrinder-and-yao-haijun/
It’s actually quite an old-fashioned collection – most of the stories are about people on spaceships or on alien planets getting into trouble, which of course a lot of SF is still about, but few of these stories really touch on anything else. “Answerless Journey”, by Han Song, one of the Hugo finalists, takes this in an interesting direction by de-humanising its space travellers (if indeed they are human, which is – deliberately? – not clear). The thirteen stories range in length from 65 pages (“Shine”, by Chen Zijun) to 13 (“The Darkness of Mirror Planet”, by Zhao Haihong), most on the shorter side. Still, it’s an interesting step in intercultural communication.
It’s actually quite an old-fashioned collection – most of the stories are about people on spaceships or on alien planets getting into trouble, which of course a lot of SF is still about, but few of these stories really touch on anything else. “Answerless Journey”, by Han Song, one of the Hugo finalists, takes this in an interesting direction by de-humanising its space travellers (if indeed they are human, which is – deliberately? – not clear). The thirteen stories range in length from 65 pages (“Shine”, by Chen Zijun) to 13 (“The Darkness of Mirror Planet”, by Zhao Haihong), most on the shorter side. Still, it’s an interesting step in intercultural communication.
March 9, 2023
I have been studying short stories recently so was keen to be offered the opportunity to read these science fiction stories as an ARC via NetGalley. Maybe I am not the biggest fan of science fiction deep down as I struggled with a lot of them. For my taste, many of the stories contained a fair amount of exposition. I know that with fantasy and science fiction writers can get away with more exposition than in other genres however I have read science fiction flash fiction that still manages to get across the idea of another world without info dumps. Having said that, my favourite story by far was 'Doomsday Tour' by Bao Shu (Translated by Alex Woodend) as I thought that this one had a great concept that was executed well.
April 18, 2023
I enjoy reading scifi anthologies and I was really glad to read something like this! It was nice to read stuff from new writers that we wouldn't have gotten word of otherwise. I really hope there will be more cultural joint projects of this nature in the future - Filipino scifi, anyone? 🤭
There are plenty stories to enjoy in this collection, though most lean toward hard scifi and scifi horror. The hard scifi ones were fascinating, but I felt like I wasn't able to fully appreciate them simply because I'm not well versed in the more technical, science parts of scifi. But, well, the theme is space exploration and it's kind of like that, yeah? Different stories, different worlds, different takes on the theme. It's a vast universe and there should be something for you to enjoy!
There are plenty stories to enjoy in this collection, though most lean toward hard scifi and scifi horror. The hard scifi ones were fascinating, but I felt like I wasn't able to fully appreciate them simply because I'm not well versed in the more technical, science parts of scifi. But, well, the theme is space exploration and it's kind of like that, yeah? Different stories, different worlds, different takes on the theme. It's a vast universe and there should be something for you to enjoy!
May 1, 2023
*I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
As with most anthologies, entries are hit or miss but I do appreciate the intent behind this collection to bring attention to lesser known authors, both Chinese and otherwise. The only author I had read from before was Bao Shu.
Unfortunately a lot of these were misses for me. Several of the stories felt too long/drawn out so while I might have liked the intent or idea st the center of the story I found myself not caring because of the pacing, and others had too much emphasis on hard science fiction for me. I do wonder how much of that had to do with the translation choices for the Chinese stories.
Standouts for me were On the Ship by Leah Cypess, and Bao Shu’s Doomsday Tour.
As with most anthologies, entries are hit or miss but I do appreciate the intent behind this collection to bring attention to lesser known authors, both Chinese and otherwise. The only author I had read from before was Bao Shu.
Unfortunately a lot of these were misses for me. Several of the stories felt too long/drawn out so while I might have liked the intent or idea st the center of the story I found myself not caring because of the pacing, and others had too much emphasis on hard science fiction for me. I do wonder how much of that had to do with the translation choices for the Chinese stories.
Standouts for me were On the Ship by Leah Cypess, and Bao Shu’s Doomsday Tour.
March 13, 2024
I really enjoy Anthologies, I often say that this is like a box of chocolate, some you really love, others you really like, others you just eat and others you don’t really care for, but you know someone that will enjoy all the same. And this collection wasn't the exception, I just wish I had read it sooner, I read it recently and it was a pleasant read.
All the stories have to do with space in a way or the other, and I recommend for everyone who likes short stories and are willing to dive in this science fiction book.
Thank you NetGalley and Flame Tree Press, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.
All the stories have to do with space in a way or the other, and I recommend for everyone who likes short stories and are willing to dive in this science fiction book.
Thank you NetGalley and Flame Tree Press, for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.
August 14, 2024
There is a number of good stories with a few not so good ones. The title refers to languages the stories were written in. All the Chinese writers are from the PRC but the “English” writers simply wrote their stories in Englis and include Americans, British and a Dane. That was disappointing as I was looking forward to reading British writers.
February 19, 2023
Review copy from NetGalley
Quite a mixed collection in terms of readability, but I think there's something in here for most sci-fi fans. There were one or two stories in here that I thought were very thematically resonant, but quite a few fell flat for me.
Quite a mixed collection in terms of readability, but I think there's something in here for most sci-fi fans. There were one or two stories in here that I thought were very thematically resonant, but quite a few fell flat for me.
Want to read
April 19, 20242024 Hugo finalists:
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend
“Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend
“Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend
“Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet”, He Xi / 人生不相见, 何夕, translated by Alex Woodend
“Seeds of Mercury”, Wang Jinkang / 水星播种, 王晋康, translated by Alex Woodend
“Answerless Journey”, Han Song / 没有答案的航程, 韩松, translated by Alex Woodend
August 13, 2024
I read this for the three Hugo nominated stories, but honestly the translated stories (which include all three nominees) were just not to my taste. I found the English-language stories to be somewhat more to my liking, but the collection as a whole is just okay.
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January 14, 2025This was a really interesting read. I didn't like every story in it, but you almost never will when it's a collection of a bunch of authors. But it was neat to see Chinese and English sci-fi writers juxtaposed, both in their writing styles and in how they approach the same concepts.
June 23, 2025
This collection of fifteen stories from Flame Tree Press showcases both Chinese and English Science Fiction authors, and is superb reading both for aficionados of Hard-Science SF, and for readers who focus on stories of the Human Condition. So here you can revel in both Science, Future, and human emotion, toil, and striving for achievement.
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